SSKM docs remove 5-kg tumor from woman’s chest

A team of doctors from SSKM Hospital have successfully removed a tumor weighing around 5 kg with a diameter of 11 centimetre, from the chest of Lakshmi Nath, a 27-year-old woman from Hooghly. 

The surgery, which lasted for nearly four hours, the doctors at the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department of the SSKM Hospital removed the huge tumor. The doctors performed posterolateral thoracotomy on the right side of her chest. 

The patient first visited the outdoor of the CTVS department where the doctors found that she required an immediate operation. The patient was admitted to the hospital under Dr Santanu Dutta, an Associate Professor at the CTVS on 28 December. Medical tests were performed on the patient who showed that the tumor had gone inside the thoracic cavity and was compressing the right lung. The tumor was located very close to the heart. The doctors said that if there was a further delay in the operation patient’s heart and lung could have been damaged. 

A 4-member team of doctors headed by Dr Dutta was formed to perform the surgery. The other members of the team were Dr Kakoli Ghosh, Dr Tanmoy Ganguly and Dr Debajyoti  Mandal. 

The tumor was located in posterolateral aspect of the right side of the chest. CT scan done on the patient showed that a large cystic mass with solid area impinging into the right thoracic cavity compressing the right lung and was in close proximity to the heart. The operation was risky as there was high risk of tumor bleeding and injury to vital vessels and structures around the heart. The doctors felt that the patient may need a plastic surgery intervention as the mass was huge. But during the operation they were able to close the defect without any flap. The Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) report says that it was benign tumor. 

The patient who is a housewife and a resident of Serampore in Hooghly developed the tumor two years ago. The tumor gradually grew over a period of two years and finally took shape of a football. It looked like a hump hanging from the right side of the chest. As the tumor gradually grew bigger, the patient had to undergo tremendous pain. The patient could not sleep due to a huge tumor which there on her chest. 

Lakshmi’s family members took her to a quack who assured them that the tumor will vanish if they continue his medication. But it only went bad to worse. As she could not bear the pain she was finally taken to the SSKM hospital. Sanat Nath, patient’s husband said that we consulted a local quack and followed his medication. But the situation did not improve. 

Dr Debajyoti  Mandal in the CTVS and a member of the team said: “The patient came to the hospital too late. If there was a further delay the tumor could have affected the lungs and heart of the patient. It was difficult to apply anesthetic drugs to the patient as the tumor was too big. We thought that the patient may need plastic surgery as the tumor was huge. But during the operation we managed to close the defect without any flap.”

The patient has been doing well and she will be released from the hospital within a week, doctors said.